E******* has announced that it is buying OSS/BSS vendor, Telcordia for US$1.15 billion. The company is currently owned by Providence Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus.

As part of the deal, approximately 2,600 employees will join E*******. Closing of the transaction is anticipated in Q4 2011 with full effect Q1 2012.

Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, E*******, says: "The importance of operations and business support systems will continue to grow as more and more devices are connected, services become mobile and new business models for mobile broadband are introduced. In this context, Telcordia brings very skilled people and knowledge, a large business in North America and other markets, as well as a good multi vendor product portfolio."

"We have global presence and scale, global services capabilities and superior knowledge about networks and network performance, as well as an already established position in the OSS/BSS space. It is a perfect fit," he adds.

OSS and BSS are critical areas to handle this challenge and to simplify the processes that support the business. They drive the customer experience and serve as the engine to monetizing traffic, offerings and products that operators sell. All in all, these systems are crucial to create the experience users expect in a cost efficient manner.

In 2010, the market for software and systems integration is valued at about US$35 billion and is expected to show a compound annual growth rate between 6-8 percent between 2010 and 2013. In addition, there is an attractive market for outsourced and hosted managed services, growing in the same range.

Telcordia is headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey, generated revenues of US$739 million during the last fiscal year ended January 31, 2011 and employs more than 2,600 people.